


running from my shadow

by wiccaning



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, New X-Men: Academy X, Wolverine and the X-Men (Comics), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: AU- The Minimoffs are at Xavier’s, AU- house of m didn’t happen, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dysphoria, Gender Dysphoria, Human Experimentation, M/M, Nightmares, Trans Male Character, Xavier Institute, trans tommy shepherd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 12:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18410606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wiccaning/pseuds/wiccaning
Summary: Tommy had been at Xavier’s school for a year now. He’d been with David for about 6 months. But there was still something bothering Tommy, and he wouldn’t say what it was.





	running from my shadow

**Author's Note:**

> woooo i wrote this in a day. thank u to piper and drew for beating!! 
> 
> also: assume quentin is trans unless stated cis in my fics

Tommy had been at Xavier’s school for close to a year; with David, around six months. but he still wouldn’t talk about what had happened before he came to the school.

David knew what happened. Tommy knew this. David’s mutation let him into the heads of everyone, even if he didn’t want it. Of course, this also meant he knew when Tommy was upset.

He tried to get Tommy to talk about his feelings at first. It didn’t work- Tommy was emotionally shut off, and any attempts to get him to talk just made him angry. It frustrated David to no end. His life was so much better with Tommy in it, and he didn’t want to see him upset.

Recently, though, David noticed that he was getting more comfortable with his feelings. Tommy had started coming into his room when he was upset. He didn’t talk about how he was doing, or about what he was feeling. He’d come and sit in his room, (even though Josh complained to no end), not wanting to talk, but not wanting to be alone either.

It seemed to be getting worse, though. Tommy started staying later and later, leaving only when he had to go back to his dorm for the night. David was still lost on what to do- Any teachers he asked told him to give it time. But he felt like time was running out.

Tommy came to breakfast one morning looking like someone had punched him in the face. This set off the worry receptors in David’s head.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Fucking peachy.” Tommy said harshly. Billy sat down next to his brother, shooting David an apologetic look.

“Seriously, talk to me.”

Tommy didn’t answer. He yawned, shoveling food into his mouth. David figured today was going to be bad.

‘Bad’ turned into ‘worse’ quickly. A few tables down, he could hear Quentin Quire yelling about ‘taking back mutant rights’ and ‘there’s a reason we’re called homo superior’. It had come to the point where David learned to just tune him out.

“I’m kind of convinced he just _doesn’t stop talking._ ” Billy said, pointing to the table where Quentin was standing, shouting. There was a small group gathered around his table, but most people were ignoring him.

“He doesn’t.” David confirmed.

Despite the racket of the cafeteria, Tommy looked like he was going to fall asleep. He almost did, too, but woke up before hitting the table.

He spit out a quick “need coffee,” before disappearing.

Billy and David exchanged glances.

“This is going to be…”

“Disastrous? Yup.” Billy confirmed. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t blow up the school or something.”

Luckily, the school didn’t blow up, but Tommy was still off the rest of the day. When classes had finished, and he was sitting on David’s bed, seeing how fast he could shake a tennis ball without it exploding while David worked on his homework.

A few hours passed, and it was starting to get close to curfew, and David had packed up his homework. Yet, Josh was doing the opposite of getting ready for bed- he looked like he was getting ready to go out. And he was.

“You know, if someone catches you, you’re screwed right?” David asked, moving Tommy’s legs and sitting next to him on the bed.

“Quire challenged Julian to a competition to see who can sneak out more without getting caught.”

“And he’s bringing you with.” David said, more a statement than it was a question.

“I was there when it happened. Figured I’d tag along.” Josh said simply.

David shrugged. “Alright. I’m not bailing you out, though.”

“I wasn’t _expecting_ you to.” Josh said. There was only a _hint_ of bitterness. He and David had a rocky history.

“You’re going to have to leave, though.” he said, redirecting his energy to Tommy. “Almost curfew.”

“Bite me.”

Josh was taken aback at Tommy’s snark, and frankly, so was David.

“Geez, I was just pointing it out. No need to get mad.”  
Tommy didn’t answer. Something about his attitude told David it was going to be a long night.

The voice of Emma Frost came rattling through his head. _You have five minutes to curfew._

Tommy groaned. “That’s _literally_ the worst thing ever. Why can’t we get, like, I don’t know, a speaker system or whatever? Like a _normal_ school?”  
“You mean an intercom?” David laughed a little at that.

“Yeah, that.”  
“Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re not a normal school.” Josh pointed out, shoving his backpack under his bed.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I know.”  
_3 minutes. You do_ not _want to be late._ Came through David’s head. Tommy made a face.

“You know she’ll catch you even if you have superspeed.” David pointed out.

“Yeah. Night.” He said, giving David a kiss on the cheek before speeding off to his room.

“You two are gross.” Josh said.

“You dated a teacher.” David said calmly.

“You’re _never_ letting that go, huh?”

“Nope.”  
_You should all be in bed now. Anyone caught sneaking in_ or _out will be punished._

“So what’s your master plan?” David asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Josh shrugged. “Dunno. I’m just going along with Julian. Said we’re going to get more girls than Quire.”

David snorted. He didn’t know Quentin very well, but he was pretty sure he _wasn’t_ looking for girls. “Have fun.”

“I will. More fun than I will staying _here_.”

“Mhm.” David wasn’t really listening. He’d grabbed a book after the last warning and had been only half paying attention. Josh hit the light, covering the room in darkness. David made a mental note to get him back for that.

The window made little noise as it was opened. He heard Josh struggling to climb through it, and land on the leaves below. The window latched shut and the room was quiet. Fumbling in the dark, David turned his lamp on. Marking his place in his book, he shut it and went to turn off the light again, when out of nowhere, Tommy was standing in his room.

He opened his mouth, talking too fast to understand. One thing was obvious, though: he wasn’t okay.

“Tommy, what’s wrong?” David whispered. Tommy’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was pulling at his sweater.

“CanIstayheretonight?” It was still fast, but David understood him.

He nodded, indicating to the bed. Tommy relaxed a little, letting his shoulders down. He didn’t run to the bed, which is what he usually did. He walked at a pace David didn’t think was possible for him.

Tommy buried himself under the covers immediately. David put his pyjamas on, before crawling in next to him.

“Wake me up if you need anything, alright?”

“Okay.”

David placed a small kiss on Tommy’s forehead, before putting his glasses on the table and turning the lamp off again. He laid an arm over Tommy’s side, and he moved closer to him. The two of them drifted off into a gentle sleep.

Until David woke up to thrashing next to him at two in the morning. Tommy was still asleep, but he was having a nightmare of some sort.

Gently, David shook him. “Tommy, it’s okay. Wake up.”  
Tommy snapped awake, eyes wide. He took a minute to realize where he was, before latching on to David and shaking. David didn’t say anything. He just let Tommy calm down.

“You okay?” He asked once the shaking stopped.

“I was there again.” He said, an unreadable edge to his voice. “Back in prison or whatever. Getting shocked. Cut open.”

“Tommy…” David didn’t know what to say.

“ _God_ , that was awful. I still remember it. They wouldn’t put me under or anything. Just… put me on a table and go. ‘You’ll be okay, young _lady_. You’re going to be our best weapon yet.” His voice was bitter now.

“You’re not what they say you are, Tommy. You’re not a weapon.”

“Sometimes, that’s all it feels like.”

“You’re not. You’re the son of the Scarlet Witch. You’re the grandson of freaking _Magneto_. Your whole family is _known_ for defying what people told you to be.”

Tommy nodded. “I know. It’s stupid though. This shit happened a _year_ ago. Why can’t I get over it? Why’s it only coming back _now?”_ There was frustration in his voice now.

“That’s how trauma works. You’re not going to just wake up and feel better one day. It takes time.”

“I guess.” Tommy mumbled.

“You feeling better now?” David asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Still dysphoric but I’ll live.”

“You don’t want to talk about that, I assume.”

“Unless you want to hear me cursing out the world, nope.”

“Okay. But if you _ever_ need me, come find me. No more of this ‘keeping it all in then exploding like mentos in coke’ thing, okay?”

Tommy sighed. “Okay.”

David placed a small kiss on the top of his head. Tommy yawned.

“Tired?”

“Can we go back to sleep now?” Tommy asked.

David nodded. “Yes. And Tommy?”

“Yeah?”  
“I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.” Tommy’s voice was soft. Whether it meant he was tired or not expecting it, David didn’t know. He didn’t think about it long, though. Soon, he was asleep, Tommy still curled in his arms.

-

They didn’t get the usual wake up call the next day. Instead of Emma Frost’s voice in their heads, they got hit in the face with sunlight. Tommy groaned, shielding his eyes. David had maybe a minute to react before the door swung open and someone started talking.

“Is Josh in here? Professor Su- Oh.” Evan started. “Uh.”

“Morning, Evan.” David yawned, grabbing his glasses and sitting up. “He’s not. I’m assuming they’re in trouble?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever _seen_ someone as mad as Miss Frost is right now.” Evan shifted, still obviously uncomfortable.

Tommy sat up finally, looking more rested then he had in a long time. “‘Sup, Kid A?” He asked Evan.

Evan ignored him. “Anyways, you don’t know anything about what happened, do you?”

David nodded. “I know a bit- no details really. Josh said Julian and Quentin made a bet- seeing who could sneak out the most without getting caught. When I asked what they were doing, Josh said, and I quote: ‘Dunno. I’m just going along with Julian. Said we’re going to get more girls than Quire.’”

Tommy laughed loudly. “ _Please_ tell me he didn’t mean it seriously.”

“I think he did.”

“ _More girls than Quire._ I really don’t think Quentin’s looking for girls.”

Evan looked between the two of them. “Is… he okay.”

David nodded. “Yeah. But that’s all I know. He went out that window.” David said, pointing to where Josh had left last night.

“Okay. Thanks. And, I, uh, hope I wasn’t interrupting anything earlier.” He said, his face turning blue.

“The only thing you interrupted was my sleep.” Tommy said.

“Oh. Sorry. But you might wanna get up and go back to your dorm. Miss Frost is… not pleased today.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Evan.”

Evan nodded, before he turned and left the room. Tommy sat up, stretching out his legs.

“Thank you. For letting me stay here last night.” He said, shifting nervously.

“Anytime. I just want you to be okay.”

“Yeah.” Tommy said, getting up off the bed. “Thanks, David. Love you.” And he was gone, running down the hall back to his room. David smiled.

“Love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed!! i’m on twitter @transwicccan


End file.
